Runtime Error vs. Compilation Error

Cited from the Book Java How to Program

Errors such as division by zero occur as a program runs, so they’re called runtime errors or execution-time errors. Fatal runtime errors cause programs to terminate immediately without having successfully performed their jobs. Nonfatal runtime errors allow programs to run to completion, often producing incorrect results.

Forgetting one of the delimiters of a traditional or Javadoc comment is a syntax error. A syntax error occurs when the compiler encounters code that violates Java’s language rules (i.e., its syntax). These rules are similar to a natural language’s grammar rules specifying sentence structure. Syntax errors are also called compiler errors, compile-time errors or compilation errors, because the compiler detects them during the compilation phase. The compiler responds by issuing an error message and preventing your program from compiling.